This case study demonstrates how the launch of its Applause Recognition and Reward Scheme helped convey a common identity and sense of celebration among employees of energy company RWE npower. View Summary

This case study demonstrates how the launch of its Applause Recognition and Reward Scheme helped convey a common identity and sense of celebration among employees of energy company RWE npower.

Perceptions of the energy industry in the UK and npower in particular are at an all-time low, with intense scrutiny from government, regulators and the media, creating a working environment where employees find it difficult to feel a sense of pride in working for npower.

The design of the Applause scheme was based on peer-to-peer recognition, accessible through any device, where employees could give instant recognition to any colleague.

To date, 81% of employees have received Applause and 67% of employees now agree with the statement 'I receive recognition for a job well done from my colleagues'.

2

British Gas: The Vue ticket offer for customers

Includes video content

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Trends

Best Practice

Direct Marketing Association - UK, Bronze, DMA Awards, 2014

This case study explains how British Gas, the utilities company, gave away free cinema tickets to improve public perceptions of its brand after a series of price rises. View Summary

This case study explains how British Gas, the utilities company, gave away free cinema tickets to improve public perceptions of its brand after a series of price rises.

British Gas customers had a negative perception of the company after it had increased prices by 37% in three years.

It wanted to build an emotional connection with people, and used a free cinema tickets offer - delivered by email - to do so.

Email open rates topped 57% with a 25% click through rate (well above industry benchmarks), and over 14,000 people redeemed tickets.

This case study shows how EDF Energy, the UK energy company, differentiated its brand from competitors through a 'low carbon emissions' message to recruit customers more quickly than all other major suppliers. View Summary

This case study shows how EDF Energy, the UK energy company, differentiated its brand from competitors through a 'low carbon emissions' message to recruit customers more quickly than all other major suppliers.

Research has shown many customers feel that all energy suppliers are the same, with no positive choice.

With this in mind, EDF Energy sought to differentiate itself through a 'Feel better energy' campaign.

By working with a roboticist, it developed the character of Zingy, who featured at the forefront of a TV-led multimedia approach.

As a result, EDF Energy managed to recruit customers at a faster rate than any other major supplier whilst delivering a ROMI of £2.36 for every £1 invested.

This case study describes how Electric Ireland (formerly ESB), the utility provider, shook off the shackles of deregulation and successfully launched Electric Ireland as an energy brand in Ireland. View Summary

This case study describes how Electric Ireland (formerly ESB), the utility provider, shook off the shackles of deregulation and successfully launched Electric Ireland as an energy brand in Ireland.

Electric Ireland needed to rise above the price squabbling and create a meaningful position for the brand in modern Ireland.

The objective was to secure sales, maintain market share, recruit new customers and build brand trust.

A new positioning was developed that built on the emotive roots and heritage of the brand which detailed the emotional moments of power in Irish life.

TV was the lead media, supported by digital, out-door, cinema, radio, digital and a partnership with Shazam, the mobile app.

Not only did Electric Ireland achieve significant growth in net sales but the brand became profitable for the first time.

This case study describes how Shell, the energy giant, used social media to promote an event in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. View Summary

This case study describes how Shell, the energy giant, used social media to promote an event in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

The eco-event invited students from high schools and colleges to design and build a vehicle, and the one that could run furthest on a litre of fuel would be declared the winner.

Local ads were placed to drive people online, and a Facebook game was created to drive interest.

Social media and installations at the event were used to communicate the brand in a new, family friendly way.

A survey following the event found that metrics such as interesting, fun and educational perceptions of the brand improved, with 78% of visitors spending two or more hours at the event.

8

British Gas: Redesigning the British Gas billing experience

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Best Practice

Design Business Association, Silver, Design Effectiveness Awards 2014

This case study describes how British Gas, the UK energy provider, redesigned its bill as part of a company-wide initiative to regain trust with its consumers. View Summary

This case study describes how British Gas, the UK energy provider, redesigned its bill as part of a company-wide initiative to regain trust with its consumers.

High energy prices and increasingly complicated bills and tariffs had led to high levels of criticism of the major energy companies in the UK.

The new bill design was intended to change it from being 'a demand for money' to 'a way of saving money'.

This necessitated a simpler format that served consumer needs, by clearly providing the key information, and creating a link between consumption and what people owed.

The new design delivered 10% reduction in billing query calls, equating to a saving of £750,000 per year.

9

National Grid: Take CARE

Includes video content

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Trends

Best Practice

Design Business Association, Silver, Design Effectiveness Awards 2014

This case study describes an internal communications strategy by National Grid, the UK power network maintenance company, which sought to decrease cable strike accidents by engaging staff. View Summary

This case study describes an internal communications strategy by National Grid, the UK power network maintenance company, which sought to decrease cable strike accidents by engaging staff.

Previous communications had been initially successful, but then lost impact.

This campaign used a range of communications with a single brand identity, including materials for different management and team levels that explained roles and responsibilities, and reminded people of them at key times.

This included stickers to be placed on equipment and vehicles to remind staff at key moments.

The campaign led to a 31% decrease in cable strike incidents, reduced numbers of injuries, greater awareness of safety across the business, and a reduced impact on communities through fewer power loss incidents.

10

Gas Safe Register: The Silent Killer

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Trends

Best Practice

Design Business Association, Gold, Design Effectiveness Awards 2014

This case study describes a campaign by the Gas Safe Register in the North West of England which sought to communicate safe gas work and change people's behaviour. View Summary

This case study describes a campaign by the Gas Safe Register in the North West of England which sought to communicate safe gas work and change people's behaviour.

The Gas Safe Register is responsible for gas safety in UK homes, including promoting safety checks by accredited workers.

Research had found 1 in 10 homes in the target areas were in a dangerous condition due to unaccredited workers.

After identifying at-risk groups, the register used online and outdoor ads, local press, events and a spoof movie trailer to direct people to the campaign microsite.

The campaign's main purpose was to motivate people to book an annual gas safety check and promote awareness of carbon monoxide poisoning.

As a result of the campaign there were over 36,000 unique visitors to the campaign microsite and gas appliance safety checks increased by 300%.

This article describes research by Ofgem, the UK government's energy regulation agency, to review competition in the energy market and understand how information for consumers could be made clearer. View Summary

This article describes research by Ofgem, the UK government's energy regulation agency, to review competition in the energy market and understand how information for consumers could be made clearer.

Research methods was used to define the problem, develop regulatory proposals, refine those proposals, and track implementation of proposals.

Methods used included quantitative and qualitative research, and analysis of outside data.

12

Yorkshire Water: No fat down sinks!

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Trends

Best Practice

Direct Marketing Association - UK, DMA Awards, Bronze, 2013

This case study describes a public information campaign by Yorkshire Water, the UK water company, which used a multichannel approach to raise awareness of various internal flooding risks. View Summary

This case study describes a public information campaign by Yorkshire Water, the UK water company, which used a multichannel approach to raise awareness of various internal flooding risks.

The campaign included radio, bus and online ads, in addition to direct mailings.

Creative included images of blocked pipes and flooded homes, with details of the causes to create a direct link in customer's minds, and a school outreach programme, with a free fat recycling kit.

The campaign helped the company to meet its regulatory target on internal flooding incidents, with campaign recall reaching 22%.

This case study describes how E.ON, the energy company, changed the energy consumption views and levels of Swedish households.

Energy companies in this market have a poor image, perceived to have high prices and high profits.

In this campaign the company partnered with 10,000 households, providing a package which allowed them to monitor their energy consumption in real time.

This data was also fed into a website which allowed people to analyse their consumption in comparison to others.

This was accompanied by a mobile app which had changing graphics to visualise the consumption.

The energy saving experiment was made public, allowing others to track the progress of participants.

By the end of the experiment the participating households had reduced their consumption by an average of 12%, with the brand's 'likeability' and 'trust' metrics increasing.

15

Comfort: Plumbers without borders

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Trends

Best Practice

Cannes Creative Lions, Creative Effectiveness Lions, 2013

Comfort, Sweden's largest confederation of plumbers, used this campaign to generate pride among the franchisees and to establish "social responsibility" as a main focus for the organisation. View Summary

Comfort, Sweden's largest confederation of plumbers, used this campaign to generate pride among the franchisees and to establish "social responsibility" as a main focus for the organisation. It partnered with a global NGO to identify where clean water was most needed and Comfort's plumbers then contributed their expertise to making that possible, building customised water purification plants for villages in Europe and Africa. Internal channels engaged Comfort's plumbers and co-workers initiated their own fundraising efforts, as pride in being part of Comfort increased by 14% and the perception of it as a socially responsible business leapt 50%. External media picked up on the projects and plumbers became ambassadors of the global water issue.

16

Thames Water Drought Campaign

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Trends

Best Practice

Design Business Association, Bronze, Design Effectiveness Awards 2013

The utility company Thames Water needed to persuade consumers to use less water and to manage expectations, following the driest two years on record in the south-eastern region of the UK. View Summary

The utility company Thames Water needed to persuade consumers to use less water and to manage expectations, following the driest two years on record in the south-eastern region of the UK.

The three-phase campaign included out-of-home, press, radio, online and events, launching around the theme of 'We are in drought' to encourage immediate water conservation.

A period of prolonged rainfall followed, so phase two addressed this seeming contradiction by raising awareness that it would make little impact on replenishing the historically low water reserves.

Phase three coincided with the lifting of a hosepipe ban (following more prolonged rainfall) and thanked customers for their efforts.

As a result of the campaign, almost half of Thames Water customers were using less water and 40% planned to continue to use less water in the long term.

17

British Gas: Simply Thank You

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Recommended by Warc editors

Trends

Best Practice

Design Business Association, Bronze, Design Effectiveness Awards 2013

British Gas, the energy supplier wanted to relaunch its Simply Thank You scheme, an initiative aimed at recognising and rewarding British Gas employees. View Summary

British Gas, the energy supplier wanted to relaunch its Simply Thank You scheme, an initiative aimed at recognising and rewarding British Gas employees.

Despite most employees being aware of the scheme, engagement was erratic so the task was to reinvigorate interest, increase engagement and deliver cost savings.

A new website was at the heart of the relaunch which also enabled employees to utilise social media for peer-to-peer recommendations.

The new look stressed simplicity, visibility, immediacy and variety of rewards.

Email thank yous and a ‘loyal service’ award were introduced.

Visually, the website incorporated images of people receiving recognition, such as a sparkle in the eyes or a smile, without identifying individual employees.

The scheme has delivered dramatic cost saving.

Compared to 2011, the average number of instant thank yous increased by 749% while monthly award nominations increased 170%.

18

National Grid: Open Up To Social Media

Includes video content

Recommended by Warc editors

Trends

Best Practice

Design Business Association, Bronze, Design Effectiveness Awards 2013

This internal campaign was aimed at staff of UK utility the National Grid. View Summary

This internal campaign was aimed at staff of UK utility the National Grid.

Its aim was to shore up the company's social media policy, so that the brand was not damaged by employees' online postings.

The campaign used social media platforms themselves to raise awareness of the issue, using dramatised scenarios to illustrate what was and was not acceptable to post.

It was successful in persuading line managers not to take the draconian step of simply blocking social media sites to employees.

Instead, they were empowered to use it as a business tool, for example, by using branded accounts for customer service.

Following the campaign, employee awareness rose 560%, while there were no breaches of policy across the 2011/12 period.

19

E.ON: Smart Meters

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Trends

Best Practice

Design Business Association, Bronze, Design Effectiveness Awards 2013

The UK government wants smart meters installed in all households by 2019, with a national roll-out starting in 2014. View Summary

The UK government wants smart meters installed in all households by 2019, with a national roll-out starting in 2014.

E.ON, the energy company, planned to trial the meters beforehand to ensure they could understand the customer experience and subsequently create a customer-centric roll out.

A direct mailing to existing residential customers sought to create interest and get 50,000 meters installed.

A question and answer approach was adopted to get the messages across effectively in a conversational way, clarifying, for example, the difference between a smart meter and an energy monitor.

The DM achieved a 24% repsonse rate and as a result, 55,000 meters were installed; 88% of recipients of the DM said the messages were clear and 76% were pleased to have received the communication.

This campaign for ESB Electric Ireland, a utilities firm, needed to reduce its market share in order to meet regulatory standards. View Summary

This campaign for ESB Electric Ireland, a utilities firm, needed to reduce its market share in order to meet regulatory standards.

The client was given a new brand name and identity, and was repositioned as a progressive, dynamic and trusted company to a diverse, digitally-aware audience.

The campaign was based around ESB's sponsorship of the 2011 Dublin Web Summit, a tech industry event.

This sponsorship was promoted via bill panels and an eDM, and a "Tweet cafe", where attendees tweeted in exchange for sweet treats.

These initiatives gained positive online buzz for the client, with #Tweetcafe trending nationally on each day of the summit.

22

Bord Gáis: At the touch of a finger

Includes video content

Recommended by Warc editors

Trends

Best Practice

Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland, Silver, Best New Learning, AdFx Awards, 2012

Bord Gáis Energy, a utilities firm in the Irish Republic, used mobile marketing for this campaign, which was based on the insight that consumers were irritated by estimated energy bills. View Summary

Bord Gáis Energy, a utilities firm in the Irish Republic, used mobile marketing for this campaign, which was based on the insight that consumers were irritated by estimated energy bills. The company launched a new iPhone app that would allow customers to update their meter readings at their convenience. The campaign idea was about "Getting in touch" - inspired by both the touch screen technology afforded by the iPhone and the human truth that people simply want to keep in touch - with creative executions featuring a fingerprint into which the Bord Gáis Energy logo was incorporated. Media included an interactive shopfront on a Dublin street, in-app ads, digital, press and outdoor. By year end, the app had been downloaded almost 20,000 times, reaching around two-thirds of the target market.

British Gas, the energy supplier, was losing 40,000 accounts per month in the highly-competitive UK energy market. View Summary

British Gas, the energy supplier, was losing 40,000 accounts per month in the highly-competitive UK energy market. This case describes a communications idea that drew on the brand's once-great past (it was the official state gas supplier that was privatised in the 1980s) and its future, to give it purpose and pride and, most importantly, return it to growth. The idea was 'Looking after your world', an animated multi-platform campaign rendering consumers' homes on individual planets that displayed the new ways British Gas could look after Britain's homes. It generated £82.7m profit on a £45.5m investment, a profit return of £1.82 for every marketing £1 invested. It also galvanised necessary organisational change.

Vestas Wind Systems, an alternative energy company, wanted to target top management within large global companies and show them how the use of sustainable wind power could save them money in the long run and increase their green credentials. View Summary

Vestas Wind Systems, an alternative energy company, wanted to target top management within large global companies and show them how the use of sustainable wind power could save them money in the long run and increase their green credentials. It did so by producing a tailored edition of the magazine Bloomberg Business Week for 657 CEOs and senior decision makers at the world's 50 largest companies. The DM also featured a letter to the receiver, a personalised cover and a loose insert, together with a personalised URL. Results of the campaign are withheld.

25

Austria Solar: The Solar Annual Report 2011

Includes video content

Recommended by Warc editors

Trends

Best Practice

Direct Marketing Association - US, Bronze, ECHO Awards, 2012

Austria Solar, an alternative energy company, wanted to engage thought leaders in the fields of politics and economics in order to establish itself as a leader and innovator in the solar energy industry in Austria. View Summary

Austria Solar, an alternative energy company, wanted to engage thought leaders in the fields of politics and economics in order to establish itself as a leader and innovator in the solar energy industry in Austria. To create its annual report, it used a photocromatic ink that was only visible under UV light, thereby creating a literally solar-powered communication. This was distributed to industry leaders worldwide, resulting in over 400 responses from companies, charities and political organisations.